Erick Martinez v. State ( 2020 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-20-00031-CR
ERICK MARTINEZ, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 124th District Court
Gregg County, Texas
Trial Court No. 47,531-B
Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Stevens, JJ.
ORDER
Attorney Lew Dunn was appointed to represent Appellant Erick Martinez in the appeal of
this matter. Currently pending before this Court is a motion to substitute counsel filed by attorneys
Jason D. Cassel and Jose Sanchez and consented to by Dunn. Cassel and Sanchez represent in
their motion that they have been retained to represent Martinez on appeal and ask that they be
substituted for Dunn as counsel of record in this matter. For the reasons set forth below, we have
considered and hereby grant Cassel and Sanchez’s motion.
When an appellant who is represented on appeal by counsel later retains different counsel,
Rule 6.5(d) establishes the proper procedure for accomplishing the withdrawal and substitution.
TEX. R. APP. P. 6.5(d). Under Rule 6.5, counsel of record—Dunn in this case—is required to file
a motion to withdraw before newly retained counsel may be substituted. Id. The actions taken for
the purpose of substituting Cassel and Sanchez for Dunn as appellate counsel of record in this
matter fail to satisfy the procedural requirements established by Rule 6.5. See id.
However, as the Seventh Court of Appeals has aptly noted, “The purpose of Rule 6.5 is to
insure that a party not be unwittingly left unrepresented before an appellate court.” Medlock v.
State, No. 07-15-00359-CR, 2015 WL 6939196 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Nov. 9, 2015, order) (per
curiam) (discussing procedure established by Rule 6.5 of Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure for
withdrawing and substituting counsel on appeal). Consequently, we have reviewed the
circumstances as represented in Cassel and Sanchez’s motion to substitute counsel and are
comfortable that Martinez has received the protection that Rule 6.5 was meant to provide. Further,
Martinez is free to retain counsel of his choosing. We, therefore, in the interests of justice and
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judicial economy, (1) utilize Rule 2 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure to suspend the
requirement that Dunn file a motion to withdraw and (2) grant the motion to substitute Cassel and
Sanchez for Dunn as attorneys of record in this appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 2, 6.5. Cassel and
Sanchez are now appellate counsel of record in this matter.
IT IS SO ORDRED.
BY THE COURT
Date: March 23, 2020
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